Your Views: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Senators will find a way to finance dining hall

Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, and the other senators who signed the letter for a separate dining facility ought to look around.

If their biggest complaint is about having to eat with lowlife members of the House and the regular public, they should stop by a few of the homeless shelters in Olympia.

Or they should ask some of the unemployed Boeing workers if they would like to trade places with them.

What a joke.

Keep up the good work, senators. I'm sure you'll be able to find some slush money to get your own dining hall set up.

This will be done while other everyday workers are being asked to pay more for real-life things like health care with minimal or negative pay raises.

All I can say is WHHHAAAA!

Bill Longnecker, Olympia

Perhaps a recall of the state Senate is in order

I find myself in a state of anger after reading about this lunchroom that these senators feel they are entitled to.

I place that room in the same category as their very expensive office furniture. It is another of those self-serving gratuities the senators have awarded themselves at taxpayers' expense.

Who or what entity drafted these people to these positions ?

I believe they are aware when they are begging votes that there may be some hardships that go with it, yet they still wish to serve the constituents!

If I had reacted to my employers in my work history as these people have, I would have been looking for a different job altogether!

Perhaps a recall of those individuals who signed that letter might be in order, in view of the circumstances of the state's budget.

John Hinklin, Lacey

Shame on sorry bunch of senators

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

The senators have to share their lunchroom with those slobs -- the representatives.

It must have been hard to keep fist fights from breaking out -- those rowdy louts!

Shame on the whole sorry bunch of them. Their true colors are coming through loud and clear (to mix metaphors).

Anne V. Norskog, Lacey

Senators fiddle while Rome burns

Shame on the state senators.

Our medical situation in this state is in shambles -- doctors leaving, clinics closing -- and they are worried about their dining area.

Transit and education are struggling, and they are worried about where they are going to eat.

People are losing jobs right and left, and they are concerned over their dining area?

They should brown bag it and eat at their desks. Others have.

Things are tough. They've got to make do.

Judy Cozad, Olympia

It's good that Fraser didn't sign dining room letter

So our elected representatives have tough days.

According to The Olympian, "Benton and Hargrove said senators work long hours with no place to turn for a little peace and quiet in the middle of a hectic day."

I've worked in the public and private sectors, as staff and management. I've worked days lasting from 7 a.m. until 1 a.m. And no one worried about my needing to find a little peace and quiet.

If the hours and work are too much for these legislators, they should find another job more to their satisfaction.

I'm happy to see that Sen. Karen Fraser's signature wasn't on the letter.

I don't always agree with her positions, but after working with her off and on for many years, I know that she's focused on the public good.

Can the folks in Sen. Don Benton's and Sen. Jim Hargrove's districts claim the same?

Randy Riness, Lacey

It's back to kindergarten to learn how to share

I would think it appropriate that members of the state Legislature get down on their knees and thank God almighty that they are permitted to do the people's business.

Perhaps they should then return to kindergarten to learn how to share their lunchroom.

May God help us all.

Nick Bond, Olympia

How about a little cheese with that whine?

Would the state senators like a little cheese with their whine?

Imported cheese, of course, seeing that keeping things domestic to help our economy would not be in the cards.

It is ironic when our educational system is in great need for funding, including free breakfasts for those in need, that the Senate can't tighten its belt.

Of all the concerns that are facing our state -- joblessness, gas tax increases, and roads that are in desperate need of attention -- the last thing on my mind is whether the Senate and the House should eat together and in plain sight of the public.

Yes, Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, this is like junior high, but in fact the junior high cafeteria is crowded and does not have a private chef as our students are endeavoring to study for their mandated Washington Assessment of Student Learning test.

He might want to call Meconi's and see if they deliver.

Has he taken his WASL lately?

Karen McGovern, Olympia

It's upsetting when people question value of teachers

In her letter to the editor, Janice Saari asks, "What makes teachers so special?"

Quantification for my response is involvement as a teacher at high school, college and university levels. You might say, "been there, done that."

I become damnably itchy when people question the monetary value of teachers; to me it's an intellectual detractor.

A teacher is (most are) a socializer, teaching value, content and behavior not only on a Socratic or Rogerian process -- facilitator of development -- but a person who guides concepts of moral education, necessary in a world in which many kids engage in using narcotics, stealing, cheating and aggression.

We should congratulate ourselves that we have teachers who labor not just for themselves but for the astonishingly very gifted, frail and vulnerable put in their charge.

We who have the democratic faith know it is not as much upon the assumption of leadership by the few as upon the wisdom and conscience of the many.

Our teachers do not ignore the highest inspirations of their students, but know in a democracy that there is a margin for convergences and divergences. From this, the minds of the majority could easily become so drugged that they may be amenable to barbarism. Our democracy as we know it could easily slide into dictatorship.

Many of us do understand the enormous amenability for which a teacher is obligated. To deny them a few extra, well-earned bucks makes no sense.

I say, it's a buck well spent.

C.B. "Pat" Daly, Olympia

Red Cross is accountable to its many donors

A recent "60 Minutes" program on CBS stated that the Red Cross has no financial reporting or accountability.

In fact, all local Red Cross chapters are required to have annual financial reviews and audits. The 126 largest chapters submit quarterly financial reports to the national Red Cross office for review.

Chapters that violate national guidelines can lose their charters. The national office is audited annually.

The Red Cross responds daily to large and small disasters coast to coast. Since Sept. 11, chapters have responded to over 32,000 disasters of all kinds, including fires, tornadoes, floods, storms and accidents. Over 40 of those were house fires in Thurston and Mason counties.

Thirty-one volunteers from the Thurston/Mason chapter have served in the Sept. 11 operation in New York, some more than once. There have been 105 other national disaster operations since Sept. 11, in which over 6,500 staff and volunteers responded from around the nation to local emergencies similar to Washington's Feb. 28, 2001, earthquake.

Most of these do not make the national news.

Since Sept. 11, following other disasters, the Red Cross has opened more than 402 shelters and service centers and served nearly a half-million meals. About 5,000 families have been assisted.

The Red Cross is supported solely by the donations of the American people and holds itself accountable to them. Anyone with questions about Red Cross finances is welcome to call the Thurston/Mason chapter's executive director at 360-352-8575, or check the national Red Cross Web site: www.redcross.org.

Patrick Nagle, Olympia

At least there was no special session

We can be thankful that the Legislature finished without having the expense of a special session.

Of course, the developmentally disabled will not get needed medical help and services, but alcoholics and drug addicts will get money and help.

Yes, Gov. Gary Locke was true to his word. The first people to be cut were the developmentally disabled.

In this society, people who deliberately poison themselves with drugs and alcohol get the funds and help.

Perhaps these politicians have more alcoholics and drug addicts in their own families, thus their eagerness to help them.

It just doesn't make sense to me. I'm disappointed with our Legislature. Thank God teachers got a small raise. Our children are our greatest assets.

Oh, how careful and knowledgeable I will be in our next election.

Marjorie Street, Olympia

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